TOURNEY BRACKETS

The Blue Devils started out the scoring when senior middy Michael Satyshur scored unassisted at 12:39 left in the first. Drawing first blood is a great boost for a team, but often that's not enough. This is the only lead Duke would see all afternoon. They also would only see one tie, and that came when Conner Gill fed J. Christmas for Virginia's first score. The Cavs poured it on for the remainder of the quarter notching four more to Duke's one more. Nick Russo connected with Joe Yevoli for the Cavs' second goal giving them a lead which they did not relinquish. The next three goals all came at the end of the quarter, within minutes of one another, and all unassisted. First it was Glading ripping one past Duke keeper A.J. Kincel at 3:59, then Nathan Kenney at 2:04, and finally, top scoring middy A.J. Shannon at 1:39. The Blue Devil's hopes were kept alive however, when Ben Brenneman, a freshman defenseman from Denver, took an Alex Lieske feed and capatilized with just under 20 seconds to play in the first.

The Virginia defense was certainly intense from the start with marked play by defensemen Mark Koontz and junior Ned Bowen. Duke's A.J. Kincel would draw the spotlight early in the second quarter however, with a huge save during an extra man opportunity for Virginia. After the save, Kincel was way out of net when an attempt to clear went sour, but Rotelli couldn't handle a pass which would have given him a great look at the empty cage. After a UVA timeout, Kincel would save the ball again and send it down field where after some messy play, Ned Bowen would rough up Duke's Lieske causing a turnover and a VA clear. Rotelli , who was on the other end of the clear, ripped one high and hard, but only came up with the clanking of the cross-bar, and Duke was able to get it back on their end. All this wild play took a matter of minutes and ended when Kevin Cassese turned a hard face dodge into a bounce-shot goal, cutting Duke's deficit to two at 12:11. Virginia answered back twice though, both times with the involvement of Chris Rotelli who was probably still hearing that clanking crossbar from a minute ago. First Rotelli fed A.J. Shannon up top who lazered one in at 11:26. Then, after some diving but fruitless offensive efforts by Matt Monfett on Duke's end, Rotelli got the ball on offense and scored sweeping right, nailing one to the lower right corner of the net. Alex Lieske had his first goal of the day and Duke's fourth, when he pushed his way inside and got his shot to dribble in after deflecting off of Tillman Johnson. Again, UVA answered back twice, this time with Gill having a hand in both efforts. Firstly, Gill took advantage of a ball-watching Paul Jepsen by finding Yevoli wide open on the backside who finished strong at just under seven left in the second. Then it would be Gill who scored about a minute later when Christmas fed him a dart which he stuck. UVA keeper Tillman Johnson stymied Duke's offensive and turned seemingly good opportunities for the Blue Devils into saves for himself. But just after a great Johnson kick save, Duke would get possession and finally score over Johnson's left shoulder with a hard rip from Terrence Keaney and an assist to freshman Matt Rewkowski. Duke's defense held strong and prevented anymore scoring for the quarter, and when Cassese drew a penalty the Blue Devils got an offensive opportunity with 1:39 left in the half. They capitalized with 49 seconds left when Lieske fed Dan Chemotti who ripped it top shelf on Johnson. Time expired with Duke knocking on the door.

Duke kept it close in the third by matching Virginia's two goals. Shannon opened up the scoring for the Cavs at 14:22, taking a feed from Gill and scorching a worm-burner past Kincel's feet. Alex Lieske notched his third assist of the day as he fed teammate Matt Monfett for the freshmen attackman's first point on the afternoon despite his tireless efforts on offense. Duke then closed within two when Chemotti scored unassisted at 5:37, but, Christmas came up with his second goal of the day and UVA's eleventh to keep the Blue Devil's at bay with just under 2:00 left in the third.

The fourth quarter produced some of the most exciting lacrosse in the game thus far, and some unlikely clutch players as well. The excitement started when Duke pulled within one early in the quarter. Chemotti showed his senior leadership when he put one past Johnson not more than a minute and a half into the fourth. Then a Matt Monfett feed to a streaking Cassese put a tie game very much within sight as the scoreboard showed Virginia 11, Duke 10. Duke was pressuring hard, looking to tie when their luck ran out. The Blue Devil's unofficial demise started as long-stick middy Trey Whitty snagged an unwise Duke pass from the sky and cleared it to a breaking Russo. Russo took the pass up the field and finished for the Cavaliers' twelfth goal. Any chance Duke had at this point was made even more slim by Tillman Johnson's excellent play, and also by some Blue Devil penalties which wasted precious minutes. The Duke defense wasn't giving up though, and A.J. Kincel stood strong in cage during the man-down period saving a nasty shot by Yevoli. After killing one penalty another soon came when Michael Ferrari was called for illegal a body check.

Jared Little came up with the next goal at 9:04 left in the fourth when Rotelli found him open up top. He let this low rip go from just inside the box, and gave a little point to the sky to celebrate his fourth goal of the year. Duke had more chances to score but, (and at the risk of sounding repetitive) Tillman Johnson and his quick hands made him look clairvoyant as he snagged shots out of the air. Russo added another nail to the coffin as he beat two Duke defenders and dropped one in on the run with 6:40 left. With about 5 minutes left Duke took a time out to gather themselves after Johnson deflected another one of their shots. They were working the ball around looking for an open shot, but a deflected pass found its way into Virginia's hands. The Duke defense played brave in the end with strong play by senior Dan Hauber who harassed the ball out of Conner Gill's stick. Defenseman Michael Ferrari got the groundball and cleared it to the offense who only managed to eat-up about 1:30 because the Virginia defense was pressuring strong. Virginia played a complete game at every position, but it was a defensman who got his name called out last. Longpole middy Trey Whitty found himself on the offense end with the ball at his feet when he picked it up and scored for his second of the year and Virginia's 15th and final goal of the day. The end of the game had Christmas, Gill, and Yevoli eating up the clock, and when the Duke finally got the ball back it just wound up in Johnson stick eventually. Matt Rewkowski chased the Virginia keeper around the cage until the final whistle blew. Although the typical offensive threats scored for Virginia Saturday in the beginning, it is worth noting that the unlikely scoring combo of Russo, Little, and Whitty was the one which closed the deal and put the game out of reach for Duke.

Duke and Virginia may very well see each other again next weekend during the ACC tournament (April 19-21) in Durham , N.C.

What is the purpose of the ACC tourney? Does the regular season even matter? Why doesnt each team just play each other twice during the regular season?

Also, Umass blew it again. They play the weak schedule and lose the games they have to win. When will the Worcester County whining start? This week or when they dont make the tourney?

And, I know polls dont mean anything but why is Cortland, Salsbury and Naz ranked over Ithaca? I realize the bombers arent the strongest team in the country but they should at least be ranked over teams that they beat or have better records than.

And....I see the cortland state posts stopped after sometime last week around wednesday???? What a bunch of chumps

All varsity sports in the ACC have to crown their conference champ via a conference tournament. It's as simple as that. It makes the ACC money and is great for the fans. It is difficult for the players and coaches because it means another game (and probable loss) against a top tier opponent who you have already faced once that year. For the bubble teams, it takes away an opportunity to play a "weaker" non-conference opponent to improve a team's chances of making the big dance.

lets see ithaca lost to conn. college, and barely beat whitter by 1, and elmira and alfred by 2. i mean a win is a win, but come on now, the bombers were preason top 10, fell off, and still havent proved that they earned the right to be ranked ahead of Cortland, Salisbury, or Naz. beat a solid oneonta state team or a good nazareth team and then u can start the complaining about rankings.........

Hampden Sydney still does not get the credit it deserves. Two years in a row they beat W&L, and they get no respect. Coach Roston has been around for 20 some years, its about time he wins a national championship. He knows what he is doing and this year could be his best chance, besides next year with the same team. Their defense is solid, and the attack could rank among the best in division 3. Watch out for HSC down the strech, this is their year.

what has cortland,naz or sailsury done to deserve to be ranked over Ithaca? First of all, Conn College and Whittier are good teams. Second of all, Ithaca actually beat Cortland and have the same amount of losses. Im not complaining i was just wondering.

The great thing about the ACC Tourney is that you can lose but still make the playoffs. Unlike DIII's Centennial Conference where you can win the the regular season title, but if you lose the tourney, no NCAA's. All you have to do to make it is beat Dickinson, Haverford, and Swarthmore, and you have a indirect shot at the "real" playoffs even if those 3 games were your only wins.

I may be wrong, but isn't WC and Gettysburg in the Centenial conference? And again, I think they are in the top 5? What about what ever conference Salisbury is in, CHUMPS all the way around. And Salisbury will still make it to the playoffs (but lose to someone else in the south bracket).

Im sure its a fun tourney to watch but it just seemed to me that it didnt have much of a purpose. And your right, the D3 system is pretty stupid as I dont think a team that is second in a conference can make it to the tourney. So Bowdoin basically is out of it. They gotta add a pool b bid in there some time.

Why is Gettysburg ranked higher than Middlebury? Those polls are stupid anyway

this year both gburg and wc will make the playoffs. There is an AQ in their conference and at large bids overall this year. Salibury must win their conference (a weak one), but teams like Widener and Stevens Tech get in the Tourney too which is a joke. At least salisbury can put up a good game.

for lacrosse is the worst decision that the NCAA has made since that Title 9 crap. I understand why they are doing it (growing the sport), but NCAA lacrosse isn't deep enough for it yet. Does anyone know if they are expanding the tourney to 16 teams anytime soon?
The NCAA is the most ass-backwards organization in the world.

WAC & G'burg are both in the Centennial Conference. My point is, is that with seven teams in the conference, 3 wins will get you into a 4 team post-season tournament where the winner goes to the NCAA playoffs.